A Commentary in Simple English on Song of Songs

The Second Poem: Chapter 2:8-17

This poem is like the sixth one, which is in 7:11 to 8:4. The poem is full of the beauty of the country. There is no thought here about the city or the king.

Verses 8 and 9

In verse 9 we read about gazelles and young stags. These are kinds of deer. They are beautiful. They run quickly. Also they can move well over rough ground.

In these verses, the young girl and her lover are no longer together. She is in her house. She knows that he will come to her and by the end of verse 9, he is outside her house. He looks into the house to see her.

The church of Christ must listen to hear his voice (John 10:4). Jesus is now in heaven. Still, Christian people look for him to come to them. Christ is heard when faithful men preach the Good News. Then the ‘eye of faith’ sees him. It seems very difficult for Christ to come to us. There are mountains in the way. There are our sins, our fears and our doubts. There are hills too. These are the hatred of men for the truth. These things cannot stop Christ. He jumps over them all. He is the Lover of his people. He wants to be with them. At first, Jesus seems to be far away. In verse 9, He is very close (Rev 3:20). Yet it is not easy for Christians to believe. The world around us is wrong when they think it is easy.

Verses 10 - 13 This is the second part of this poem.

In these verses, the young girl tells us what the young man said to her. He is outside the house now. She is still inside the house. He asks her to come out of the house to join him. The world around them is full of beauty. In verse 11, the bad weather of the winter is all over. The cold times are past. The sun shines. This would be in April or May in Palestine. (Verse 12) At this time of the year there would be no danger. Travel would be safe so he can say: ‘Get up and come with me’.

Jesus calls us to the Christian life, which is a journey to glory. We go with him and we are safe. There are flowers everywhere. Flocks of birds come to Palestine at that time of the year. They just visit the country and fly on somewhere else. The ‘dove’ is a bird which lives in Palestine all through the year. The singing of the other birds is full of music. The dove just ‘coos’, all on one note. [2.2]

In verse 13 we read about the fig tree. As winter comes, green lumps form on the branches. These are fruit which stay on the tree through the winter. Then the warmer weather comes in the spring. This early fruit on the fig tree becomes ripe. The fig tree puts colour into the fruit. It turns a deep purple colour. Then it is ready to eat.

The exact meaning of the last line is not clear. The word for ‘vines’ is ‘semadar’. This word has been found on the handles of jugs. These are jugs that are as old as Old Testament times.

At the end of the verse, the young man again asks the girl to come out of the house. ‘It is always time to believe when Christ calls’. [2.3]

The Lord Jesus Christ loves us. We should hear his voice. We should know that it is his. So often we find life sad and hard. It seems too good that Jesus asks us again to follow him. He wants us to see new beauty and feel fresh joy. We are slow to go with him (Verses 10 and 13). Sometimes there is ‘winter’ in the life of the church, or in our own lives. There are storms. We may not like the winter. But it is the time when farmers plant seeds. Then it is spring again. The rain has made the earth wet. Now the sun shines. There is warmth. The seeds will grow well. So will other things. The flowers come first. The fruit comes later. We need the flowers of pure thoughts in our minds. Then the fruit of the Spirit will form. (See Galatians 5:22-23 and Philippians 4:8-9.) We sow the seed of God’s word. Often nothing seems to happen. Yet when the springtime of God’s blessing comes, the seed will grow.

Verses 14 and 15 This is the third part of this poem.

In verse 14, the young man speaks to the girl whom he loves. He says that she is like a dove. The dove is a bird which is weak. It has enemies, which would kill it. So it will make its home in the rocks on the side of a hill or mountain. It will make its nests in caves. It seems that the girl is ‘shy’. She does not want many people to look at her. She does not enjoy it when people she does not know look at her.

Sometimes it is not safe for the church to show itself in the world. The church has enemies who would like to destroy it. Like the dove, the church hides away. Christian people sometimes have good reason to be afraid.

But we must always show ourselves to Christ. We must not hide from him. We may not want the world around us to hear our prayers and praises. Yet Christ finds the sound of our prayer and praise sweet. It is not like the dove which just ‘coos’. There is music in our worship. Christ finds beauty in his hidden church. Never let your unbelief say to you: ‘Christ does not want to hear your prayer’.

In verse 15, the fox is a small wild animal rather like a dog. The word may really mean ‘jackal’. The fox has to be kept out of the vineyards in the spring. They will bite the stems and the wood of the vines. They will harm the fruit before it is ripe to pick. They only destroy. They do no good at all.

Men who do not teach the truth are ‘the little foxes’. What they teach is wrong. They do not look very big. At first, they do not seem to matter. Yet they can do a great deal of harm. Most of all, young Christians may listen to them. They are like the soft new growth of the vine. They are like the new flowers that should soon turn into fruit. We must keep the ‘little foxes’ out of the church.

Verses 16 and 17

This is the fourth and last part of this second poem. Again it is a kind of ‘chorus’. It is rather like 8:14. Now it is the young woman who speaks. (Verse 16) The man she loves is not far away. She can say that now, she belongs to him. He belongs to her. He feeds his sheep among the flowers, which grow among the grass.

When we have faith in Christ, he is one with us, and we are one with him. He has the right to all we are and have. He gives new rights to us as well (John 1:12; Rev 2:7; 22:14).

Verse 17 really says: ‘Until the day breathes’. Now this can mean one of two things.

a) It could mean ‘until the day breaks’. The picture then is of the sun behind mountains. It is day, but the mountains are dark, with shadows on them. Then the sun rises above the mountains. In a moment all the shadows go away. ‘The shadows flee’.

b) Or it could mean evening. The heat of the day is over. It is evening. There is a gentle cool wind. (See Genesis 3:8.) As the sun goes down, the shadows grow longer and longer. They grow weaker too. They ‘flee away’.

The evening is a time for young lovers to meet. So the young woman asks her lover to turn to her. He is to run quickly to her, like a deer. The mountains will not stop him.